John Harrison
VP of Solutions Formation
In recent weeks and months I am constantly reminded that I am truly blessed. All I have to do is read the newspaper or turn on the news to be reminded how much worse things could be. From the crisis in Haiti to the heartbreaks and pain in the Olympics to being named one of America's 10 Worst Cities, I would say we have it good. We haven’t been devastated by natural disasters or rampant crime, or crashed onto concrete hard snow going 60+MPH. Yes, we have had our fair share of business-related stress over the past months, but things are beginning to look up. In fact, I have found that the best cure for stress is to stop focusing on ME and MY STRESS and take a look around me. Certainly, there are people with far greater worries. Why not turn our attention to helping them?
I am very happy to report that we continue to see an overall increase in activity for jobs, projects and staffing opportunities. While some of the larger companies continue to cut back, many of the small to mid size companies have begun (or continued) to add staff to address their improving business conditions. I was telling someone just the other day that it really feels good to be able to help someone find a job again. In recent days, I have seen some very selfless acts that make me proud to be a member of this community. I have seen people helping people without concern for their own personal gain. That is what I’m talking about! Put your own needs aside for a minute or two and focus on someone else. I’d like to think I work this way and certainly believe it to be a strength of my company’s culture.
Looking forward, I think we can do better as a community in 2010. We all need to take it upon ourselves to turn it up a notch. I am very competitive when it comes to business, but I can think of a number of times when I found myself trying to help anyone regardless of whether they were a customer, prospect, neighbor or competitor. Yes, it has been inspirational to watch people rally around the situation in Haiti, but it shouldn’t take such a dramatic event to move us to action. I believe we need to look for ways to serve others every day. By all means, please continue to help others who are less fortunate around the world, but I ask that we do more to help those immediately around us too. There is still much work to be done in 2010 to help our community, our state, and our country back to its feet. It starts with individuals. We all have something to offer, so, let’s channel that energy and let’s use it, now! You may just find it to be the best form of stress relief you could ever imagine.